


Mors Certa, Vita Incerta

by hprse



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Faunus (RWBY), Alternate Universe - No Semblances (RWBY), Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Androids, Badass Penny Polendina, Badass Ruby Rose (RWBY), F/F, I may be wrong on that though, Nerfed weapons, Partial amnesia, Past Character Death, Ruby Rose Talks to Herself a Lot, but i probably wont depict further than actions taken and noises made, its not canon tho thats for sure, just a heads up on that, kind of, once grimm show up then theres some stuff thats a lil gross, renora p much doesnt happen other than vague hinting as far as im aware!, thats just how she is!, the end notes are really long almost always btw. sorry bout that, the graphic violence tag is just to be safe!, theyre all badass in general tho just to make that clear. just extra emphasis on those two, this fic is (sadly) powered by the beach boys, yknow. its really unclear.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25546174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hprse/pseuds/hprse
Summary: Ruby, a young huntress-in-training, is separated from her team during a hunting trip thanks to a freak snowstorm. Trying to find shelter from the storm, she finds herself at the doorstep of a large wooden cabin. Knowing it would be impossible to find her way back until the storm clears, Ruby does what any sane person would do- she breaks in. What she expects to find is maybe an angry lumberjack, or a startled grandma. What she doesn't expect to find, is the unmoving girl slumped unconscious against a cabinet.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry the end notes are so long. It got out of hand, and I've been known to ramble!

The harsh wind is biting and the snow on the ground is hard and cold. Ruby braces herself against the storm, finding herself stumbling forward and hardly able to see a few feet in front of her clearly. Not that there was much to see, save for miles of snow and trees. She's fairly lucky to be prepared for the cold, but Ruby knows even she won't be able to survive out in the open in this weather for long, despite having a good, thick parka. She lets out a freezing breath, her gloved hands shoved into her armpits, and her face feels warm and flushed with blood. She squints as she scans the white horizon, tripping in the process. The snow in her boots melts, soaking her socks in excruciating cold as she struggles to climb back to her feet. Her eyes widen as the dark form of what seems to be a building comes into view. 

"Screw you, weather, Ruby Rose is _not_ freezing to death today!" She mutters under her breath as a victorious grin shakily stretches across her freezing face. It doesn't appear to have anyone home, as no light seems to be coming from it. If anything, it may be abandoned. As far as Ruby can remember, her mentor had never mentioned a cabin or a house out in the woods, even going so far as to say there were none so far away from town. Now, however, she seems to be about to prove that statement wrong. 

Ruby crunches her way through the snow that seems to be piling higher by the minute until she reaches what appears to be a large cabin. A tarp rests over what must be a pile of firewood at the side of the house, a board from the railing of the porch lays broken on the ground, and the windows are dark. Rather than a few steps, there is a flat, gradually inclining ramp starting from one side of the porch to the other. The inside is pitch black, the shadows emphasized by the lack of evening sun thanks to the cloud coverage from the snowstorm. Realistically, it's a large enough building to possibly be a public lodging lost to time. Either way, Ruby decides to take her chances with whatever could lay inside. She _is_ after all a huntress in training, and it's not like she left her rifle and sickle set, Crescent Rose, back with her mentor. She taps the butt of her rifle with her hand, and the firearm thumps against her back in its sling as she hikes up the slick ramp leading onto the porch. 

Rather than knocking, Ruby presses the side of her head against the freezing cold wood of the door. She holds her breath, doing her best to ignore the howling wind that feels as if it's getting colder by the second. Nothing seems to be inside, or if there is, it doesn't seem to be moving. Taking her chances, Ruby burst in through the door, and it slams against the inside wall. That is definitely not up to public building code. The wind screams as it pushes its way through the doorway, and blows snow inside. Something rattles and falls to the ground with the clatter of several small objects. She gasps, quickly pushing the door shut, and once it clicks, she lets out a shaking sigh of relief. She takes a moment to regain her bearings, before standing upright, and looking around. The room is dark, which is to be expected, yet still quiet, save for the storm outside. She pats at her belt, grabbing a flashlight. Ruby curses at herself for not having thought of that earlier, when she was literally stumbling around like Qrow after a night out. Not that it would've helped, the snow falling through the air too quickly to see much anyways. 

The beam of Ruby's small utility flashlight scatters around the room, landing on a large, brick fireplace. She grins. Now to find some wood. She grimaces at the idea of having to go back outside, now that she's finally in here. She leans back against the door, the temperature in her body slowly rising now that she's sheltered from the wind. Ruby shines the flashlight along the lower areas of the walls, searching for wood, until she shines it past a surprising sight. She whips the flashlight back to the spot, and slaps a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming in horror.

Slumped against a cabinet seems to be a girl her age, with short, curly orange hair. The girl is obviously unconscious. There's no way that she could have possibly survived long without the fireplace running, but given the dusty, rundown state of the large cabin, it seems that the girl may have been here a while. The lack of smell from decomposition is... Puzzling to say the least. None of this is adding up. Ruby decides to take her chances, rushing toward the girl, the beam of the flashlight trained on her carefully.

"Hey!" Ruby decides to start with. She prods the girl's shoulder, yet she doesn't move. Now that she is much nearer to the unconscious- or possibly dead- girl, she can easily make out freckles on her face, and the bizarre black and green material that is wrapped around her neck. "Hey, girl!" Ruby tries again, taking the girls shoulders gently in her hands, her gloves now laying on the floor as she shakes the mystery redhead carefully. The girl is unsettlingly cold to the touch. She hisses in frustration, grabbing the flashlight she had set down, and rapidly searching around the room. Fire. She has to make a fire. If she's alive, she needs to be warmed up. If not... well, then, Ruby will have talked to, shaken, and moved a dead person around. Great! What an excellent situation to be in.

Finally, Ruby finds (more like trips over, if the stubbed toes in her shoes have anything to say about it) a small stack of firewood stored across from the fireplace. She quickly, yet carefully brings the wood over, dropping it onto the rug resting in front of the outer hearth. Her fingers shake as she tosses the wood into the fireplace, and as she lights some broken pieces for kindling with her fire starter. Taking a short time to nurse the flicker of a flame into something more akin to a respectable fire, Ruby commends herself for being so thorough in learning her survival skills. Her mentor may have taken a ridiculous amount of preparation before taking her onto hunts, but Ruby'll be damned before she ever claims she didn't learn anything. 

Ruby hops to her feet, rushing back over to where the girl remains slumped over. She taps her foot for a second, looking down at the girl, before sighing, and grabbing under her arms. She shivers at the low temperature, before starting to drag her towards the fire. Ruby groans as she pulls the girl.

"Mother of gods, this is the heaviest thing I've ever had to drag across the floor." Ruby mutters under her breath. She eyes the top of the girl's head with suspicious eyes. "If you can hear me, somehow, please do not punch me for calling you heavy." She huffs as she continues dragging her, the sound of the body on the floor is incredibly loud. "Really, if anything, eating well in these times is sort of a blessing." She finally reaches the front of the fireplace, doing her best to gently lay the girl down on the rug. Ruby nudges the girls towards the fire carefully, grabbing the lone poker at the side to prod at the fire. She throws another piece of timber into the flame, before standing up straight with a stretch. 

Now that the room is lit by the fire, Ruby can finally take a look around. A wide, dark hallway lays just across from the front door. The girl seemed to have been laying in a small kitchen area, with a table and chair pushed to the side, scuff marks scarring the wooden floor as if it had been moved in a rush. She lifts her rifle from off of her back, bringing the sling over her neck before setting the gun on the table, doing the same with the sickle at her side. She brushes her hands across the dusty counter as she slowly moves along. She takes another step and something crunches slightly beneath her foot. She lifts her foot quickly, picking up the object with care. Her eyes widen. It seems to be some piece of technology, a green plate of metal with bits and lines running all over it. Her brow furrows at the sight, hoping it isn't anything important. Setting it on the dusty counter, Ruby's eyes widen at the sight of several other small, green plates nearly identical to the one she stepped on. 

Ruby reaches down, picking up the small bits with care, and places them all back onto the counter. Just in case. As she sets the last piece down, something makes a sound across the room. Ruby instantly goes on edge, scanning the side of the room with the girl. Everything is still. After a moment, Ruby walks slowly and quietly over to the table. She grabs Crescent Rose, and one of the chairs, which she drags over to the fireplace. 

As she settles down in the chair, watching the still unmoving girl with curiosity and listening to the fire pop and crackle, Ruby realizes that something is different. Rather than just the loud crashing sound of the wind outside and the burning fire, Ruby can make out a quiet, and steady hum. She grits her teeth, holding the rifle close to her body with her hand on the safety.

The humming continues for several minutes, generally unchanging. Ruby decides that whatever it is mustn't be something to worry about for the time being. She looks back down to the girl on the rug. Had this been any other situation, Ruby would've picked herself up and wandered down the hall to look for blankets, or something at least warmer than the dress the girl seems to be wearing. Ruby rolls her eyes at herself before standing to her feet, rifle still gripped tightly in her hands. 

"Damn the Grimm, I've got all the protection I need." She says to herself as she walks towards the unlit hallway. From her belt Ruby takes her flashlight, fixing it to a clasp on the side of her rifle. She sticks her tongue out in frustration. "Ugh, Ruby you _scatterbrain_ , why didn't you bring a bayonet, today of all days?" She asks herself. She enters the hallway, and clicks the flashlight back on. "Helloooo, hallway. You are _totally_ not creepy at all. Not in the slightest." She takes a step down, scanning the hall. Only one door is visible, and the very end seems to branch off to both the left and the right.

Ruby slowly takes a few steps, doing her best to keep her steps quiet. If anything was in the house, it probably would've shown itself by now. Unfortunately, if Yang's biggest goal in life was to be a huntress, then her second biggest goal would be to show Ruby every horror film that they had. Sure, they didn't have many, but their neighbors were glad to bring them more if they ever found any. Ruby shivers at the memories of the things Yang made her watch while their dad was away.

Pressing her ear against the lone door, Ruby listens in on utter silence. She pushes the door open, shining the light in. She stares in wonder, eyes glittering wide at the sight of what seems to be a workshop of sorts, pieces of scrap metal, tools gathering dust, and all sorts of unfinished projects lay sitting around on several tables along the walls. 

"Woah..." She can't help but say as she gingerly lifts up what seems to be a mechanical arm. It sits heavy in her hands but her touch is gentle with what could very well be a very delicate piece of machinery. Something like this piece of technology could be almost impossible to find, and finding someone capable of working with it could be even harder. To think, only a few miles from Patch was someone with this kind of technology in their house... Ruby lets out a breathy laugh. She sets the arm back down on the table. Once she makes it out of this storm, Ruby’ll have to tell her team about everything that she saw.

Something thuds from in the main room. Ruby jerks her head towards the door, grabbing her rifle from the worktable where she had set it down, and bursting into the hall. She practically runs back into the main room, social customs be damned, and her jaw drops. 

“Salutations!” The voice breaks Ruby away from her stupor. The girl who had been entirely unreactive is now sitting up, and speaking to her as if everything is fine and normal. The girl tilts her head after a few moments of silence, and Ruby realizes she should probably respond.

“Um… hi?” She says. The girl just smiles. “Are you… okay?” Ruby asks with brows furrowed. This was so weird. This is absolutely in _no_ way how she expected her training mission to go. Not even in the slightest.

“I am wonderful, thank you for asking!” The girl answers with a smile. Ruby, against all odds, grows even more confused than before.

“Are you sure? You seemed like you were dead just a few minutes ago!”

The girl hums as Ruby walks over to the table, and sets Crescent Rose back down. It seems like her worry was for nothing. 

“I am absolutely certain that I am alright! You have nothing to worry about.” The girl puts her palms on the rug. “My name is Penny. It is a pleasure to meet you!” 

Ruby makes her way over as the girl, Penny, pushes herself to her feet. She outstretches her hand with a confused smile. The girl’s eyes are an unnaturally bright color of green, and she stands just a few inches taller than Ruby.

“Hi, I’m Ruby.” The girl takes Ruby’s hand excitedly, shaking it up and down vigorously. “Did something… happen to you? How long were you sitting there like that? Is anyone else supposed to be here? Also, why are your hands so cold?” She suddenly blurts out. Penny hardly seems bothered, instead continuing to smile.

“I am afraid I don’t know if something happened. I can’t seem to…” she pauses. Her mouth curls downward into a frown. “I can’t seem to remember.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Ruby says kindly. She gives Penny a reassuring smile. “You don’t have to answer.” Penny still seems bothered, yet nods anyways.

“Okay. I am not sure how long I was there, either. What is the date today?”

Ruby gives her a blank expression, and glances around. Shit, what _is_ the date? Sometime in January? January 20 something. 

“Like, January 23rd, maybe? Why?” Penny clicks her tongue.

“Oh dear, that is a rather long time. It must be next year, by this point! It _is_ the year 2234 at this point, correct?” Penny asks with that same smile. Ruby’s eyes widen. Her jaw drops. “What is it?”

“Um… Penny… this year is 2238.” Penny’s expression instantly drops into one of disbelief, and maybe a bit of… sadness? 

Penny looks away, to the floor where she had been sitting, her eyes squinted in thought, and confusion, her expression hurt.

“Penny, what’s the matter? Is something wrong?” Ruby asks, placing a hand on Penny’s shoulder.

“I… yes, Ruby. Something is very wrong.” Penny pauses for a moment, her gaze returning to Ruby’s. “I have been out since the year 2233.”

Ruby’s eyes widen once more in disbelief. How is that even possible? How is she even alive? There’s no way that any human could survive out here, unconscious, for 5 years. Not without power, with the weather, and the creatures of grimm that torment the wilds.

“To answer your other questions… I live here with my father.” She hesitates for a second, looking down at her feet. “I do not know what happened to him, or where he is. I can’t seem to remember what happened at all.” Her expression falls even further. She looks back up to meet Ruby’s eyes. “To answer the last one… the reason I am so cold is because the temperature seems to have been incredibly low the past few months.”

“Well, yeah, it _is_ winter after all. But that still isn’t really… normal? You’re cold to the touch, there’s no way that that’s healthy.” Penny tilts her head in confusion, before smiling.

“I can personally assure you that I am a perfectly normal person!” Penny says, before hiccuping. She brings a hand to her mouth, eyes widening at herself.

“How can you possibly be normal?!” Ruby exclaims, throwing her hands up into the air in exasperation. “You were asleep for like, 5 years! There’s no way a normal person could do that!”

“I was.... Hibernating?” Penny hiccups again.

“Penny, please. People don’t hibernate. I just want to help.” Ruby says with a small frown. 

Penny lets out a sigh. “Okay. Do you promise you won’t try to leave, or get upset?” Ruby nods her head. “Well…” she wrings her hands. “I’m not a real girl.” Ruby nods again, before doing a double take.

“You… what?” She asks in confusion.

“I’m not a human. My father… he made me. I’m an android.”

Ruby leans back in the chair, arms crossed over her chest. An android? Here? So close to home, and here Ruby was meeting one for herself. If a year ago, someone told her she would be meeting an android in a snow storm, she would tell them that they were shitting her. Hell, the same could be said if she was told the same just an hour ago.

“I… hope that you are not uncomfortable. My father told me that not all people may understand…” Ruby gives her a surprised expression.

“Oh, no! I just wasn’t expecting that. Well, I don’t really understand, but that doesn’t mean I’m upset or anything! This won’t stop us from being friends.” Ruby says with a beaming smile. Penny pauses, staring at Ruby. “Even if you’re an android, you’re clearly human enough, I can feel it!”

“Wait, what did you say?”

“That I’m not upset?”

“No, you said that we can be friends.” Penny says. Ruby’s eyes widen.

“Only if you want to, of course! I _did_ kind of break into your house and all…” Ruby trails off as Penny smiles widely at her.

“I would _love_ to be friends with you, Ruby! You will be the first friend that I’ve ever had!” Ruby grins at the red headed android, her heart swelling with affection for the girl she’s just met.

“Well I’m sure I won’t be the last!” Ruby feels a lightbulb go off in her head. “Oh! I bet I can introduce you to my team, once the snowstorm is over!” 

Penny gives her a wide smile, and nods excitedly. “I cannot wait!”

The next few minutes are quiet, with Penny watching as Ruby tends to the fire, dropping a few more pieces of wood into the flame, and adjusting it with the poker. The fire is, obviously, burning hot, the heat great enough to make Ruby’s face sweat being so close to it. 

The entire situation is so incredibly bizarre, Ruby can’t help but think. To imagine she would be meeting,and befriending a real, honest-to-gods android all because of a slightly disastrous hunting trip with her team and mentor. Despite the circumstances, she can’t help but feel bad that she ended up separated. If she hadn’t gotten disoriented, she would have never met Penny! She frowns to herself, thinking that her team must be worried. Yang in particular. She’s probably worried sick, being cooped up in the Vale team lodgings. Probably annoying the heck out of Weiss, too.

“Are you alright?” Penny’s voice suddenly cuts through Ruby’s thoughts. Ruby looks over at the girl, who sits primly in her chair.

“What?”

“I asked, are you alright? You seem unhappy.” Penny says with a concerned look.

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Just thinking.” Ruby chuckles awkwardly, scratching the back of her head.

Ruby stands up, stepping back from the fireplace to admire her work from a distance. She grins, deeming her work to be a success, before sitting back down in the chair. She crosses her arms over her chest, looking down at the flames.

“Is it okay if I ask why you live all the way out here? I didn’t even know this place existed!” Ruby asks the other. Penny shrugs

“I’m not really sure, honestly.”

Ruby nods. That’s that, she supposes. 

“So you said you don’t know why you were deactivated?” Ruby pipes back up.

“I… I do not know why, but I can’t remember much of anything from when I was deactivated. It’s as if the memories are there, but I am simply unable to access them!” Penny says with a small groan, running her hands down her face. “It is incredibly frustrating, I simply must say. I just wish I knew what happened to my father…” Ruby’s brow furrows with concern.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m sure we can find a way to get your memories back.” Ruby says. Penny looks at her in surprise, then happiness.

“Really?” Ruby nods. “Oh, Ruby, thank you so much!” The girl jumps to her feet in excitement, a smile wide on her face. 

Ruby can’t do much but smile back. When she entered the house, she was half expecting a creature of grimm to jump from the shadows and eat her face off, half expecting some angry person to _shoot_ her face off. What she was absolutely not expecting to find, was a friend, let alone a friend who is an android. What a bizarre day this has turned out to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! I've been working on this for quite a while, and to start this off I'd like to thank you for reading! It's been several months now since I started writing this (wowza), and have finished 5 chapters in their entirety. There are roughly 7 and 1/2 chapters left to finish, and I'm planning on released the chapters weekly. At the time of uploading this, it's about 3:10 AM for me, but for rest of them I'm expecting to upload them much later in the day, closer to 4 or 5 PM my time (Eastern Standard Time). I'm hoping to be finished with the rest of the story by the time the next two chapters are out, and the only reason they didn't get finished far before was because I got lazy. (That was a lie. The only reason I haven't finished is because the word Glock is said in chapter 6, and I couldn't work on it because every time I opened the notepad, I started laughing. I think Glock is the funniest word out there). The 5 pre-written chapters were actually written in about 7 days! Each one I only worked on for like 3 hours lol. Lots of rereading though!
> 
> I'd like to point some things out about this AU.  
> -The event that resulted in the world being... the way it is will NOT be touched upon, neither in, nor out of the story. It's basically post apocalyptic, but it's so far into the future that literally no one knows, and society has rebuilt itself up just fine. Technology isn't a super huge rarity, in fact Ruby and Yang own a VHS player, but it's all old, and stuff more advanced than bulky, sturdy stuff that's made to last is practically unheard of. Something like... Penny's entire existence is basically something out of a movie for them. The reason she exists and the reason why the Polendina Cabin has so much of this advanced tech WILL be explained, though!  
> -The way weapons are named, as far as I can tell, are NOT explained in the story! However, I will explain them in the P.S. notes of the 6th chapter. For now, just know that Crescent Rose refers to a pair made up of two weapons: A sickle, and a rifle.  
> -Vale has solar panels. But again, technology isn't super great, so they pretty much just SOMETIMES use it for stuff like refrigeration and lights.  
> -If you are confused about anything else, PLEASE ask! I'm happy to answer.
> 
> Another thing, I don't think I've ever properly written anything CLOSE to a slow burn. I refuse to call this a slow burn, because I know that unless I get like, possessed or something, it's not going to get over 100k words (and I bitterly refuse to call it a slow burn unless it's over 100k solely because if it isn't 100k I'm not going to regret starting it at 2 AM) so please bare with me! It'll probably be kind of slow or kind of fast at times in terms of romance. Sorry bout that!
> 
> Also, the title is a quote from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? It translates to "death is certain, life is uncertain" as far as I can gather! I had to come up with a title awful fast!  
> Anyways I love "Nuts n Dolts" or whatever this ship is called, and I think it deserves AAAALL the attention. The only thing that gets less attention (I think?) that should get more than this would have to be Ruby/Penny/Weiss! Anyways, sorry this went on so long. Hope you enjoyed, and hope you enjoy what is to come!


	2. Chapter 2

As it turns out, the day was somehow able to get even weirder as the sun set, unnoticeable through the wind still howling outside. Don't get Ruby wrong, Penny is an excellent conversation partner. Despite the fact that she wasn't entirely human, she made for an great person to talk to. On the other hand, the girl seemed to have growing concerns for her loss of memories. She could remember plenty of things, like who she was, who her father was, and all the other little things in life, but for some reason, all circumstances surrounding her deactivation continue to evade her. This frustrates the girl to no end, and she now sits on one of the countertops in the small kitchen area. 

Another small downside to being stuck in a snowstorm with an android, is the lack of food. Somehow, in a turn of events surprising to the both of them, it turns out that after several years of disuse, the house has started to become less hospitable. All the food, save for a few cans of... well... _something_ has either long-wasted away, or been eaten by rats. After some investigating, Ruby also discovered a broken window on the upper floor that was quickly covered by a tarp she found in a closet. How the freezing wind hadn't made itself known before? She has no idea.

Ruby heats her can of mystery food with the fire, setting it just beside the burning flames on the hearth, occasionally tapping the side with a finger to see just how hot it is. She touches the side just one more time for good measure, and hisses at the temperature, rapidly flapping her hand at her side.

"Yikes!" She hisses under her breath, blowing on her fingertips. 

"Are you alright?" Penny asks from where she sits on the counter. Darn her super-android hearing, or something like that.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Ruby almost shouts over her shoulder, turning back to look down at the offending can. Now how is she supposed to go about doing this...

Ruby grabs the fire poker, and uses the curved sticky-outy bit to pull the can away from the flames. She looks down at the can with a sigh. Now she has to wait for it to cool down, so she can actually open it. Why did she think that heating the can before opening it was a good idea? She flops down onto her back on the rug, staring up at the wooden ceiling. What a day this is has turned out to be. What a day that it is _continuing_ to be. Whatever, at least she's gotten a friend out of it! 

Ruby climbs back up to her feet, and decides to take another look around the house while she waits for the can to cool down enough. Penny looks at her with curiosity as Ruby walks over to her.

"Ruby!" She sets down a small piece of technology, not dissimilar to the little pieces that had been scattered around the floor until Ruby had picked them up. "Is something the matter?" Ruby shakes her head.

"No, I was mostly just wondering what you were doing. There isn't really much to do when a snowstorm is keeping us in, y'know?" 

"I understand..." Penny says, jumping from the counter and to her feet. "I have an idea, for something we may do together!" Ruby jumps back a bit, before grinning in excitement.

Penny gently pushes past her, rushes down the hall, and up the stairs. Ruby startles a bit at the sudden contact, yet ignores it in favor of following the girl upstairs into an open room at the end of another hall. The girl opens up the same closet that Ruby had found the tarp for the busted window in, and rummages around. After a few moments, she backs out of the closet with a victorious smile, a deck of cards in her hands.

"We can play some card games!" She holds the pack out, dropping it into Ruby's now outstretched hands. "My father taught me just a few, because there usually wasn't anything else to do even when it wasn't snowing!" 

The two quickly make their way down the stairs and back into the main room.

"Here, how about we move the table a bit closer to the fire?" Ruby suggests, pointing at the table where Crescent Rose sits. Penny nods, and the two lift the heavy table, carefully moving it to the other side of the room, and placing their chairs on either side.

"So, what game shall we play?" Penny asks with a curious head tilt. The fire crackles beside them with a comforting ferocity. Ruby taps her chin, humming in thought.

"How about something simple? Maybe... Jolly Grimm?" Penny nods her head enthusiastically.

"That's a wonderful idea!" Penny says as Ruby hands out cards.

A little while into the old game, and Ruby finds herself dropping her head onto the table with a groan as Penny wins. For the 7th time.

"You were lucky, I'm just rusty!" She says, standing up and pointing an accusatory finger at Penny, who simply giggles in response. Ruby leans down in front of the fireplace, grabbing the now warm can of mystery substance, and bringing it back to the table. Penny looks on curiously as Ruby pulls out a knife, and simply stabs into the top, rocking it back and forth, and going all the way around the edge. Penny sits leaning forward as she watches, and finally Ruby is able to hit the top of the can with the hilt of the small knife. It opens, revealing... 

"Oh thank the gods." She says with a sigh of relief. Just a can of beans, and they don't look terrible either. She grins, thankful that she had heated them up, and digs in with a fork that Penny had given her earlier.

After about a minute of general silence, Penny collects the discarded cards into a pile.

"Would you like to play again?" She asks Ruby, who nods, and swallows a mouthful of the canned beans.

"You better be ready, because you are going to lose, miserably!" Ruby taunts excitedly.

Penny did not lose. In fact, she won in roughly a minute and a half. Ruby simply slides out of her chair and onto the ground in utter defeat. 

"Are you alright?" Penny asks, looking under the table. She seems to be asking that a lot, Ruby can't help but think.

"No, your win literally killed me, Penny. The crushing pain of endless failure has ended my life." Ruby answers with a sigh, leaning against the leg of the table. Penny simply frowns at her.

"I am quite sure that you are very alive, Ruby!" She says with a slight twinge of confusion. Penny sits up in her chair, tapping the deck of cards she has once again gathered onto the tabletop.

"Oh, I was just joking." Ruby says as she drags herself back up into her chair from the ground. She grins a bit. "One more game, before I hit the hay?" Penny smiles at her brightly, handing out the cards.

As to be expected, Penny wins again. This time, rather than falling into some dramatic pit of despair, Ruby simply sticks her tongue out at Penny in her disappointment. 

The snow outside continues to fall, and the wind continues to blow past the house with the same ferocity as it had the entire time since it had hit. Ruby stares out the black window, the light from inside not doing a single thing to brighten the dark expanse of the forest. 

Penny catches Ruby's attention by tapping the corner of the deck of cards to the top of the table as she had before, the sound loud and almost sharp, a stark contrast to the dull howling of the wind. Ruby looks up at the girl and smiles just a bit at the corner of her mouth. Despite the sudden explanation of her nature being that of a robot just hours before, Ruby can't find it in herself to be overly surprised. Penny is something so different from what she would have expected a robot to be like. She had heard stories of course, about what the robot army of Atlas had been like hundreds and hundreds of years before. Ruby had always thought that they would look a little scarier than a girl her age, though.

"Do you sleep?" Ruby suddenly breaks the short-lived quiet with a question. Penny blinks at her.

"No." She answers after a moment, before tilting her head. "Well, I suppose I would be able to if I tried. It isn't necessary, though, I don't think." 

Ruby just nods, looking around the room once again. The cabin is large, and she had seen several rooms with closed doors as she had wandered them prior to the card games. Upstairs, Penny had her own room, of course. Not much was in it, save for a desk, a clearly unused bed, and many, many electrical components. Penny's father had a room as well, at the far end of the hall opposite to the staircase on the ground floor. The room across from Penny's was a guest room, to Ruby's relief. No crashing in her new friend's missing dad's bed for Ruby, thank you very much!

"I think I'm going to go sleep, alright?" Ruby asks, though it isn't much of a question.

"Alright!" Penny pauses for a moment. "Our guest room will be quite alright, yes?" Ruby nods.

"Yes, it'll be just fine. Thank you." She says, and Penny only stands, the deck of cards now in their box. 

Ruby takes Crescent Rose into her hands, tossing the sling over one shoulder and the sickle in her belt as she pushes in the chair. She uses the poker to adjust the wood in the fire, tossing a good few bits of it in. It would probably go out in the middle of the night, and freeze the both of them to death, knowing Ruby's luck. However, that would be a risk she is willing to take for the sake of sleeping in a bed, as opposed to a rug on the floor, or a hard wooden chair. 

Penny has already made her way upstairs, her heavy footsteps easily letting Ruby know that she has already entered her room, and given by the relative silence, settled down for the time being. Ruby decides to follow in suit, heading up the stairs and opening the door to the guest bedroom she had been shown earlier. The room is dark and dusty, yet not quite as freezing as she had expected. She looks back over her shoulder to the closed door of Penny's room, and smiles just a bit before closing her own door. 

Ruby places Crescent Rose up against the wall, and settles down on the bed, the small smile remaining on her face. The blankets are dusty, and she's going to regret not flapping them around the room in the morning, but she can't be damned to bother right now as she wraps the thick fabric around herself, and drifts off into sleep in mere seconds. 

When Ruby wakes up it is clear to her that her thoughts in the previous night were correct. Not only is she freezing despite the large heavy blanket she's bundled in, but she finds herself coughing at the dust that is no longer settled thanks to her movement in the nighttime. The small guest room is no longer nearly pitch black thanks to the fact that it is morning, and it seems that the blizzard is no longer as bad as it had been. Not that Ruby plans on risking it anytime soon, though.

With one final throat-clearing, bone-jarringly strong cough, Ruby throws her legs over the side of the bed. She snorts at herself, seeing that she had kicked her boots off in the middle of the night. Serves her right for falling asleep with them on. 

After collecting her boots from the floor, and putting them back on, Ruby throws Crescent Rose back over her shoulder, and opens the door to her temporary lodgings. She shivers just a bit as the slightly colder air in the hallway makes contact with her skin. Ruby makes her way down the stairs, smiling tiredly at Penny who seems just as awake as she had been the entire time that she wasn't, well, quite literally deactivated. Perks of being an android, Ruby guesses. No dealing with dark circles, or being tired, or something like that. 

"Good morning, Ruby!" Penny says as she notices the huntress-in-training. Ruby simply raises a hand in a half-hearted wave, and sits down at the table that still rests beside the crackling fire. 

Penny works at some sort of little chip devices, or something like that quietly, chewing the inside of her cheek in concentration. Ruby can't help but watch as the girl works away at the little bit of technology that she'd never seen in person before. It's fascinating, not only how precise the girl seems to be, but also how even a robot could make those cute concentrated faces. 

Ruby blinks at herself, before letting out a small, almost silent huff as she continues to watch. _Cute_... 

"What are you working on?" Ruby finally decides to ask. Not just to get her away from her loopy-tired thoughts, but also out of wonder. Penny looks up at her in surprise.

"Oh! I'm simply trying to test this chip to see if it is still up to working condition." Ruby nods.

"What's it for?"

"I'm going to see if I can bring my memories back, somehow." She bites the inside of her cheek again. "I will have to do several tests to even see what is causing this gap in my memory, and I would like to have all potentially useful parts to be functional."

Ruby nods once more. That makes sense. She feels relieved at this, the fact that what Penny is doing right now is something not difficult to understand. It would be really annoying if right off the bat she had no knowledge of any sort of technology outside of a VHS player.

"Do you think there's any way that I could help?" Ruby decides to offer, before she backtracks. "If you need it, of course. If you think you can do it yourself that's okay too, plus there isn't really anything to do right now beca-"

"Ruby, I would love your assistance!" Penny cuts her off before she rambles on too long. Ruby lets out a breath of relief. She probably would've rambled for minutes, really. "However, at the moment everything is working perfectly smoothly. If things keep going well, I should be able to get my memories back very soon. For now, I really just have to run diagnostic tests, and then I can properly get started." 

"That's great!" Ruby says with a beaming smile. Penny returns it in full, and the two continue on wordlessly.

Ruby watches out the window, the sky slightly grey with both fast-falling snowflakes and thick cloud coverage. If her internal clock is anything to go by, it should be around 6 or 7 A.M. and as long as the snowfall doesn't worsen, they should be set to return to Vale. In the meantime, something should really be done about finding some more food. After some good 10 minutes of sitting around, doing nothing but waking up, Ruby finally pushes her chair out, and gets to her feet. May as well go pick one of those few cans that had been salvaged from around the kitchen.

Ruby grabs one at random, hoping for something not-horrible like the beans from the night before. It isn't too difficult to prepare food in a can, and thanks to the teachings of her team's mentor, she's pretty darn good at it. Ruby sucks her teeth at that thought. Knowing her mentor as well as she does, she probably isn't even doing it right. Whatever, Ruby's always played it by ear, and damn, a single blizzard isn't going to change that any time soon. 

Penny remains sitting at the table as Ruby sits in front of the fireplace, waiting for the can on the bricks to heat up enough. Realistically she should probably open it to see if it really needed to be heated up, but she can't bring herself to care enough to fix her mistake. With her luck, she'll probably end up with a vegetable or something like that. She probably won't complain, though, given the circumstances. There isn't really any reason to do so, and she's pretty dang hungry.

Ruby turns around, the small of her back gently touching the outer part of the bricks in the fireplace. She watches out the window once more, as the snow falls, yet not quite as aggressively as they had the night before. Soon, they would be able to set back out towards Vale. Then, Ruby would get to see her team and her family again, and then they could work to try and get Penny's memories back, and Penny could watch a movie with them, or something! She can't help but smile just a bit at the thought. All they have to do, is wait.

Ruby hates waiting.

Finally, Ruby returns to the can set near the fire after zoning out while watching Penny work for several minutes. She once again uses the poker to draw it away from the endlessly crackling flame, and sucks her teeth as she touches it without thinking. More waiting. What a horrible turn of events this all has been.

"It seems as if the outside may be navigable soon." Penny suddenly says, startling Ruby. Ruby looks at the girl and nods with a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm hoping we'll be able to head out soon, before it gets too late. Otherwise we'll end up having to stay another night, and I don't really know how to feel about that..." Ruby trails off, before her eyes widen. "Not that your house isn't cool and all! I'm just sure my team is worried about me, is all."

"It's fine, Ruby." Penny giggles. She pushes the chip she was working on forward across the table a bit. "What is your team like?" She asks curiously. Ruby stands up, taking her seat at the table once again.

"Well, my team is pretty cool, if I do say so myself." Ruby says with joking pride. "We're training to hunt grimm, and become licensed huntresses. Weiss is my partner. She can be kind of cold, but she's really nice once you get to know her." She taps her chin for a moment, and Penny nods. "Then, there's Blake and Yang. Blake is a bit antisocial, but she gets along really well with Yang, my super cool sister." Ruby glances around a bit, as if looking to make sure no one was listening, despite the two of them being alone. She leans forward a bit, and Penny can't help but do the same to listen as Ruby does a stage whisper. "If you ask me, they seem like they're a little more than just friends, if you know what I mean." She grins at Penny, who laughs softly. 

"Your teammates sound wonderful, Ruby." Penny says, before looking down at her hands a bit sadly. "I'm sorry that you've been separated from them. I believe I understand how you feel, and I hope that we are able to get to them as soon as possible."

Ruby reaches across the table, placing her hand atop Pennys' in reassurance. "Hey, it's alright! It's not your fault that I'm out here, and I'm sure I'll see them again soon. Then, we can start looking for your memories and your dad, too!"

Penny looks at her in a split moment of surprise, before smiling brightly at her. "Thank you, Ruby. I... I truly appreciate it."

Ruby pulls her hand away, before standing back up to her feet to grab the can that has to be cool enough to touch by now. She opens it up, and grins. Peaches. Okay, maybe it's a _little_ weird to have heated up peaches, but she won't complain. The sugary syrup coating them is more than enough to sate the lingering sweet tooth that's been harassing her for the past two days.

Now that Ruby has gotten her food, and Penny continues to concentrate silently, there's only one thing left to wait for. Ruby still hates waiting, but now, she has something else to think about, and that is the sickeningly sweet taste of 5 year old heated and canned peaches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had that weird TikTok "Mi pan, sum sum sum" song stuck in my head the entire time I was doing a final lookover/edit
> 
> also I'd like to make it know that I don't know anything about robotics or anything like that. I can put a computer together and maybe help you stop it from running so slow, but beyond that I don't know a single thing. All that portion of the story is going to be very vague, and might not make much sense. I'll just be excusing it as a narrative choice, because Ruby has little to no experience with anything more complicated than a vcr ;))


	3. Chapter 3

A few hours had passed since the morning, the time likely nearing 12 in the afternoon. After hours of waiting around in boredom, two sets of eyes constantly watching the conditions outside. Finally, the snow seems to have stopped, at least for now. As far as Ruby or Penny can say, it could either start back up again, or not snow for another month. Either way, they weren't going to risk getting stuck inside again. 

Ruby tucks her pants into her boots. Like hell is she letting them get soaked again, and risking them freezing. She pulls her parka back over her shoulders, zipping it up and pulling the furred hood onto her head. The rifle portion of Crescent Rose is thrown over one shoulder, as opposed to the usual sidebag-like approach. Now that it was no longer snowing, and it was possible to _actually_ see, Grimm would likely be more of an issue. Ruby had once heard that long, long ago, the Grimm didn't need to see in order to find you. They could simply sense your negative emotions. Ruby shivers, half out of displeasure, and half from the cold. She's glad that the Grimm just had normal searching abilities, thank you very much.

A few feet away from her stands Penny, who has a backpack on her back, filled practically to the brim. The girl stands there, glancing out the window, waiting for Ruby.

"Hey, you aren't going to get a jacket or something? I know you're a robot or whatever, but won't your insides get all junked up?" Ruby asks with concern. Penny looks at her in surprise.

"Hm..." The girl responds, looking thoughtful. "I suppose you are right, Ruby. I will go look for one."

The girl disappears down the hall and up the stairs, leaving Ruby downstairs alone. The footsteps upstairs are heavy, not just because of the way the house was built, but because of the fact that the person walking around was a _lot_ heavier than your average flesh-and-blood person. Ruby looks around her, thinking about if she had forgotten anything. She pats at her belt. Front left, flashlight. Front right, her sickle. Back left, knife. Back right... uh... nothing. Perfect. Ruby pauses before frowning and looking at her hands. Right. Gloves. She looks around the room, before spotting them in the corner of the little kitchen area. She grins, grabbing them from the floor and shaking them off. Dusty!

Just as she finishes slipping the gloves on, Penny makes her return, now new and improved with a pale green jacket. It wasn't the thickest jacket Ruby had ever laid eyes on, but it'd work. Probably. She grins, and pats her rifle.

"You ready to head out?"

"I am travel ready!" Penny answers with a salute, before Ruby opens the door.

The air outside is cold. That much was too be expected, obviously. The sun hasn't been out long, and seeing as the snow isn't melting like it was being boiled, it means it probably isn't going to get much warmer any time soon. That alone is a good enough incentive to make it back quickly.

"Which way are we going, Ruby?" Penny suddenly asks, and Ruby jumps. She nearly slips and falls on her back end, before even setting foot into the snow. "Oh, I did not mean to startle you."

"It's fine." Ruby chuckles. She taps her chin, looking out into the planes of snow and trees, seemingly endless. "Well, we're supposed to be going to Vale." She says, mostly to herself. "Seeing as the camp we had set up was about 7 miles to the west of town, and I went in an almost straight line going south west..." She trails off, look out into the distance. Nothing changed visually, but she grins anyways. She points a finger somewhere to the front-right of the house. "Town should be that way!"

"Affirmative!" Penny says with a curt nod, her hands gripping the straps of the large book bag. "Let's be on our way!"

Ruby grins, carefully walking down the ramp that is now even more slippery than it was the night before. "Hey, was your dad in a wheelchair?" She can't help but ask. Penny looks at her in surprise before nodding once she steps onto the ramp.

"Yes, he was." Penny says. Ruby hums.

"You guys sure live far out of the way." Ruby observes.

Penny shrugs. "I suppose you're right. I'm not really sure why, though..."

The snow crunches beneath their feet, the sound loud in an otherwise quite quiet world. There are no birds, or any of any kind of wildlife for that matter. When it snows in Vale, animals outside tend to... disappear. Not literally, of course, but it was still kind of impressive how the animals practically vanished the moment that snow started to fall. It didn't have much of an effect on life in Vale, fortunately. Well, of course, the snow itself did. Hours of clearing roads and paths, all because it was the "job for young hunters in training". Ruby scowls at her own thoughts. Sure, it was necessary, but man, it was annoying having to do it alone. Well, not alone, she had Weiss, Blake, and Yang. It was still annoying for the four of them, as well as team JNPR to have to do most of it themselves. 

That, plus the fact that they were almost never allowed to leave the town when it snowed was annoying. They were already hardly allowed out, but the moment even the _thought_ of a snowflake crossed someone's mind, there was no outside privileges. It was so dumb! Ruby kicks at the snow in front of her, grinning smugly at the soft material. No socks of hers would be getting soaked this time around!

The next hour or so leaves the two in relative silence save for their footsteps in the snow. By this time, the cabin behind them is no longer visible, the only thing showing that they had even been there for real was the long lines of footprints left in the snow, the self-made paths disappearing far into the distance.

A few minutes later, Ruby decides to do some... pretty terrible beatboxing. It was awful, and she's certain Yang would've joined in with some equally terrible rap, just to annoy Weiss. A small pang hits her heart, and she frowns. She misses her team, dearly. Ruby perks up, however. Soon, hopefully today, if they can beat the sunset, Ruby would be able to introduce them to her new friend! She's certain they'll get along just find with Penny, and then they'd be able to help her get her memories back.

Ruby ceases her crummy beatboxing, and instead decides to pass the time by looking out into the distance. Not that there's much to do. They couldn't even play eye-spy, seeing as everything's all covered in snow. Everything is brown, blue, white, or black.

Wait, black? Ruby squints, stopping in her tracks and staring out into the distance. She frowns, eyes widening. Penny has stopped behind her, and now leans to her side, looking to see what Ruby sees.

"Aw, rats." Ruby says with a wrinkle of her nose. "Do you think we will be able to avoid them?"

Penny hums in consideration, before nodding. "I think we should be able to. As long as we are quiet, and simply stay out of their direct line of sights. We should be far enough away as it is. We should focus on our objective, rather than getting ourselves in unnecessarily dangerous situations!" The girl suggests, and Ruby nods.

"Right. Our objective. We can do this!" Ruby cheers quietly, pumping a fist into the air. "Let's keep going. It should really only be an hour or two away by now..."

Penny nods, and the two of them fall back into step, Penny almost directly behind Ruby, and back a few paces. 

It only takes what feels about 20 or so minutes, the Grimm in the distance now long disappeared into the white expanses of the forest, for conversation to start back up. Ruby can't say she isn't relieved when Penny suddenly asks her a question, the feeling that she would annoy her stopping her from starting up conversation herself.

"Ruby, do you think you can tell me more about your teammates? I cannot help but be curious about what kind of people they are, for you to care for them so deeply." Penny asks, and Ruby nods as she thinks.

"Well, I guess I'll just start with my partner, again." She pauses to think. "Weiss is... Weiss is probably my best friend. When we first met, she sort of hated me, but after being forced to not only work together, but bunk together as well, she definitely warmed up to me. Yang still likes to call her the Ice Queen, sometimes."

"Ice Queen?" Penny interrupts abruptly. Ruby looks startled for a moment.

"Uh, yeah. She used to act really cold to everyone. Why do you ask?" There's a short pause.

"I'm... I'm not sure. That sounds very... familiar, somehow." Ruby stops walking, and turns around to face Penny, who very much nearly runs directly into her.

"Was it something from the missing memories around your deactivation?" Penny considers it for a moment, but shakes her head.

"No, I don't believe so. It may be an older memory." Ruby looks puzzled at the response.

"I would've thought someone like you would have, like, a perfect memory!" Penny giggles, shaking her head.

"No, unfortunately I do not. The older a memory is, if it isn't something important, the less about it I am able to retrieve. This is to prevent my storage from clogging up with useless information. It's incredibly similar to the human mind that way" Penny elaborates. Ruby nods. She turns around, and continues on her way.

"That makes sense!" Ruby clicks her tongue. "Next is... Blake! Blake is Yang, my sister's, partner. Blake is really passionate about the stuff she cares about. I remember when Weiss was still new to the whole 'being a friendly person' thing, and Blake had to chew her out _so_ many times for saying mean stuff about people!"

"She sounds very kind." Penny observes. Ruby grins, though Penny wouldn't be able to see it.

"She is really nice. Don't let that fool you, though, she's an absolute Grimm-hunting master!" Ruby says with a laugh. "I guess the last would be my sister. Me and her are super similar, but we actually have different moms. She can have quite a bit of a temper, but she's really like Blake in that when she cares about something, she cares a _lot_. She's also super hardheaded, like I can be!" She finishes with another laugh. Penny can't help but giggle once more in response.

"You seem to care quite a great deal for them." Penny says softly after a few moments of quiet. Ruby looks down towards the snow in front of her feet as she walks.

"I do. I really miss them, and I'm sure they're super worried." She lets out a dry laugh. "I bet Qrow has them stuck inside, so they don't do anything stupid."

They fall into quiet again, until Penny pipes back up. 

"Who is Qrow? I do not recall you mentioning him before." 

"Oh, Qrow is Yang and me's uncle! He's also the licensed hunter assigned to train us."

More silence. The crackling of the snow is practically deafening in comparison to the unsettling quiet. To think, that just the day before it had been so loud that she couldn't hear her team, or her uncle. She huffs at the thought. Stupid wind, being so loud that she gets lost. She's lived in these woods her whole life! She's supposed to know the darn place like the back of her hand, and all it took for her to end up in a cabin that supposedly didn't even exist, was a little snow! Well, a lot of snow, actually. But still! That's just plain ridiculous.

The next hour passes without anything of note. At some point, Penny starting walking beside Ruby, their footsteps practically in unison. They talked about nothing, remaining silent save for the occasional observation about the weather, which had stayed stagnant since they had left the cabin.

It almost starts to feel as if they've been making no progress, or were even going in the wrong direction about 20 minutes later. Ruby groans. Her shoulders hurt from alternating between which side held Crescent Rose, and she's certain that she would have bruises on the sides of her lower back from the butt of the rifle thudding against her almost rhythmically. Her feet are slowly starting to get blisters, which are hurting more than they would be usually thanks to the cold. Her fingers are freezing, yet not numb quite yet. She looks over at Penny, who despite the long amount of time spent walking, seems entirely unphased by the entire thing, seemingly content walking in silence.

Now that she thinks about it, Penny is quite pretty. Her freckles really suit her, and her eyes are so bright. That part is probably because of the whole 'being a robot' thing, but that doesn't change anything about it. 

"Hey, how are you doing?" Ruby asks. Penny looks at her.

"I believe I am doing quite well. While I am unsure of how much the coat has helped, it certainly did not hurt to bring." Ruby nods.

"What about your bag? What did you even put in there, anyways?" She can't help but ask. Penny shrugs.

"A lot of stuff! I packed quite a lot of electronic components that I may potentially need, and some small items from my room that I recall my father giving me." 

"Isn't it uncomfortable to lug all of that around?" Ruby can't help but ask.

Penny shakes her head. "Not particularly, no! My body is much stronger and resilient than it may appear to be." She answers with a smile.

Ruby nods at the response.

"How much do you think you could pick up, if you really tried?"

Penny gives a small hum, before falling silent for about a minute or two, until she finally responds.

"While I am not entirely sure, my best estimate would have to be around 200 and 300 pounds, at the very least." Ruby gapes at her in surprise.

"At _least_?!" She exclaims, careful to avoid being too loud and attracting unwanted attention. Penny smiles.

"At least, I think so." Ruby shakes her head in amazement.

"Wow." She looks back out out into the distance. Penny giggles. 

About 30 minutes later, and nearly 3 hours total into their journey, Ruby thinks that she sees something out in the distance. She squints, leaning forward as far as she dares, before grinning in excitement. 

"There!" She nearly shouts, all caution thrown out the window. Penny looks out where Ruby points, and tilts her head. "It looks like one of the town's watchtowers! If we can get there, we'll be able to get to Vale!"

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Penny says with a bright smile, and Ruby laughs a soft, genuine laugh as she rushes forward, practically leaping towards the tower in the distance. 

As they grow closer, and the details of the tower become clearer, Ruby's excitement doesn't die. She would be able to see her team soon! She can't wait to sleep in her own bed, though small, and she can't wait to eat actual food, not almost-expired mystery canned-goods. Plus, she'll be able to help Penny more, once they're safe within the town. 

She gets a short distance from the tower, and waves her hands around in the air.

"Hey! Hellooooo!" She shouts up, and someone who had clearly been slacking on the job suddenly leans over the side of the tower to get a good look at her. Ruby grins and waves even more excitedly as she sees who it is. "Nora!" 

"Ruby!" The shrill voice of the hyperactive redhead rings out, loud and true. Penny stops beside Ruby, as Nora slides down the ladder to the tower with skill so precise that it has to have been practiced. "Ruby, it's so good to see you! Everyone's been so worried! Ren, Pyrrha, me, and Juane have all been taking turns keeping watch, because Weiss, Yang, and Blake aren't allowed to while you're gone, but now you're here and we can all be together again!" The girl throws all of these words at her, and Ruby picks them all up with practiced ease.

"It's so great to see you. I'm surprised that Ren isn't out here with you, though?"

Nora puffs out her cheeks, and blows with an annoyed huff. "He's being a big baby about something, so right now, the two of us are taking just a liiiiittle bit of space away from each other, just for right now." Ruby raises an eyebrow, but decides not to comment on it. Right then is when Nora notices Penny. A great grin stretches across her face. "Helloooo! I don't think I've ever met you before! My name's Nora!" Penny smiles back at her.

"It is lovely to meet you, Nora. My name is Penny." She stretches out her hand, which Nora accepts with gusto, shaking her arm with a baffling speed given the fact that Penny is literally made of metal.

"So where in Remnant did you pick this one up? There's like, _nothing_ out there, especially not in that direction!" Ruby opens her mouth to answer, but Nora lets go of Penny's hand, and puts her own in the air. "Actually, nevermind. Lets get to town. My hands are about to _literally_ freeze off of my arms. If my hands freeze off, I won't be able to arm wrestle your sister anymore!" She says, puffing up her chest, and placing her fists on her hips. “I’m gonna grab Magnhild, and then I’ll be the best escort you could ever dream of!” The girl doesn’t wait for a response before practically throwing herself up the ladder.

“She seems to be quite kind.” Penny observes. Ruby nods.

“Yeah, she’s pretty great. She can be a handful sometimes though, even more than me!” 

“She is not one of the teammates that you mentioned before.” Ruby hums.

“Yeah, she’s part of another team, team JNPR. We all get along great, though!”

Penny giggles a bit, and Ruby grins at the response. Nora finally slides back down the ladder, the large sledgehammer she uses for combat now strapped to her back.

“Now then, let’s get to town! Penny, you’re gonna love Vale, I just know it!” Nora says with a wide smile. “Now come on, before I have to make you chop my fingers off!”

The three walk through the snow at more of a stroll than in a rush. Now that they were close to the town, close enough now that they could see it in the distance, there was little need to be careful of Grimm. Nora hums some old song that Ruby doesn’t know the name of, and will probably end up listening to once she’s settled back in. That girl has an impressive music collection, given the fact that most stuff like that had been long lost to time. The fact that it was all in near perfect condition was even more baffling. Not that she’d complain, though. 

“Oh yeah, Nora, everyone who was at the camp with me got back safely, right?” Ruby asks. Nora looks back at her with a puzzled expression, before nodding.

“Yup! Your team and Qrow got back perfectly A-Okay. Well, they were obviously really cold, which sucks. I feel for them.” Nora cackles. She then squints at both Penny and Ruby, glancing between them like something to hide. “So, how exactly _did_ you two find each other? I thought no one lived out that way, and if they did, they’d be too far to reach in just a day…” 

Ruby shrugs. Honestly, she isn’t quite sure herself, and as far as she knows, Penny doesn’t have a clue either.

“To be honest, I have no idea. I just sort of walked until I found her house.” Ruby answers. Nora hums in suspicion, before turning her gaze over to Penny.

“What about you, huh? How did you survive so far away from town, even if you did have a house?” The interrogation continues.

“Oh, it’s quite simple. I was simply deactivated, until Ruby found me.” Penny responds with a small, but genuine smile. 

“You were deactivated? What the heck is that supposed to mean? Did you hit your head out there too hard, or something?” Nora scrunches her nose up.

Penny laughs, shaking her head. “No, I did not, in fact, hit my head.” She glances at Ruby, who tilts her head, as she wonders if Penny would share what she had told Ruby just the previous night. Penny makes one of the fastest decisions she ever had, and looks back towards Nora. “I am not a human. I am an android!” Nora looks at her with a suspicious glare, searching Penny’s face for any trace of a lie.

Suddenly, she throws her arms up in the air.

“Okay!” Nora says. Ruby looks at her in exasperation, and Penny tilts her head slightly.

“You do not find it odd?” Penny asks, and Nora pauses for a moment before bursting out laughing.

“Odd? That’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever heard! I think it’s absolutely awesome. You and me are going to _totally_ have an arm wrestling match. Just you, me, and the wonderful, beautiful table of the best pancake place in aaaaall of Vale!” Nora shouts with a triumphant laugh and a pose of victory, one foot propped up on the roots of a tree, and a hand on her hip.

“There’s only one pancake place in Vale, Nora. Of course it’s the best.” Ruby says, the exasperation still clear in her expression.

“It will be legendary!” Nora says, choosing to ignore Ruby in favor of theatrics.

Penny giggles some more as Nora continues to jump around, from snow-covered rocks, to tree roots slick with ice, all of which she is bound to slip on. Ruby just watches with a grin that she can’t bother trying to hide. Penny keeps her hands clasped behind her, her steps almost a skip as she walks. Ruby can’t help but smile, just a bit more as she watches the girl laugh.

Finally, the walls of the large town now seem much higher as they’ve gotten closer. Now just a few hundred feet away, Nora is still jumping from rock to root, when suddenly someone shouts from the already opened gate.

“RUBY!” A loud voice shouts. That is the moment that Nora’s foot makes contact with the next tree root, and her foot slips out from under her. A mass of yellow starts to barrel towards her, and that is the moment that Nora hits the snow beneath her. Penny lets out a startled gasp, and the yellow mass slams into Ruby, sending them both to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will not lie, I almost forgot to post this. But I didn't, so here it is!  
> I hope that the characters don't seem wildly OOC. I actually had only gotten into RWBY shortly before I started writing this, and I haven't actually taken in much content, be it the series itself or art/fics, since my original single viewing of the show. So YEAH im just sort of going off of like. The things I remember about them, and I'm not really known for my memory. I appreciate any feedback! I don't bite (:
> 
> P.S. Right before I published this I wanted to double check to make sure it's actually Monday. While looking on my bed for my phone, which I still can't find, I found a quarter instead? I don't have any quarters. I guess I have one now? Wild.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!!!
> 
> EDIT: i am so sorry yall ive been having computer troubles and the next chapters are all on it 😔 the 4th chapter should be up on monday!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end notes are important for this one!

Ruby is sent to the ground the instant her sister makes contact with her. She had expected a dramatic reunion, but one before she had even reached the gates was a little less what she was expecting. Now however, she can't help but laugh as Yang laughs, lifting her from the ground in a massive bear hug.

"Yang! Put me down!" Ruby shouts through laughter, pushing against Yang's face.

"Never! I was so worried you chump! Now I can't ever let you go or you'll go off getting lost in the woods again!" The blonde responds, tightening her grip on Ruby.

After just a short time of loud laughing and protests from Ruby, more rapid footsteps approach, and before Yang can even turn around to brace herself, someone else throws herself at the two, followed by a fourth. Yang stumbles, and releases Ruby, only for her to be captured into the arms of her partner in grimm-hunting, Weiss. 

"Ruby! Where the heck were you!?" Weiss shouts, not giving her any time to respond as she wraps her arms around the slightly taller girl and hugs her tight.

"I got separated from everyone once it started snowing! It's not like I did it on purpose!" Ruby says, returning the hug. She peaks over Weiss' shoulder to see Blake standing off to the side, and gestures for her to join in. Before she can even make an attempt to do so herself, Yang pulls her in for a group hug, holding all four of them together. "You guys, I can't really breath!"

"Too bad. This is happening." Blake deadpans, fully enjoying all the warm contact in the otherwise icy weather.

"Nooooooooooo, group hugs, my only weakness. I shall die here, even after surviving the deadly snowstorm of the forest." Ruby laments dramatically.

"Well, it was nice knowing ya, sis!" Yang says, finally freeing them from their prison of affection. 

Yang slaps her sister on the back, a pleased grin on her face as she turns so her back is facing her the team, and is now looking towards Nora who seems to have recovered from her fall, Penny, and the gate leading into Vale.

"Hey, I've never seen you before," Yang says with a hint (more of a handful) of confusion, pointing at Penny.

"Yes, I have never been here before in my life!" Penny responds brightly. Yang looks at her with a dumbfounded expression. Weiss finally stops pinching at Ruby's cheeks and scolding her, giving herself a chance to join in the conversation.

"But the direction you came from has no people, where in Remnant did you come from?" Weiss asks with arms crossed.

"Well, my father and I have a cabin, way out in that direction!" Penny says, pointing off towards what could easily be the exact location of the cabin.

Ruby looks at her teammates, who seem very confused by this information. She steps up beside Penny, and places her hands on her hips.

"I broke into her house." Ruby claims smugly, and triumphantly.

Blake smirks at her as Weiss guffaws. "Ruby, you can't just break into someones house! What if she had a gun or something, then you'd be worrying about having been killed!"

"Hey, I had Crescent Rose with me!"

"That makes it even worse!"

"That literally doesn't even make any sense!"

Yang turns to Penny and Blake. "They're always like that, in case you were wondering." She sighs, but smiles again. "Anyways, I'm Yang, and this is my partner Blake. Welcome to Vale!"

"It's wonderful to meet the both of you!" Penny responds, and Yang sticks out her hand, which Penny takes and shakes roughly. Yang hisses a bit.

"Good lord, your hands are _cold_! How are you even alive right now?" She asks as she releases the other girl's hand.

"Especially with what you're wearing now, and given the fact that you two must have been pretty far away from here." Blake throws in once she takes Penny's hand as well.

"Oh, I can assure you both that I am quite alright." Penny says. 

Suddenly, Nora throws an arm around Penny's shoulder, which Penny doesn't respond to.

"Penny here, is a real life, completely genuine, _robot_!" Nora cheers, leaning on Penny, who smiles with a nod.

"Android, but yes, this is true."

Yang's jaw would be in the snow if it wasn't attached to her face, and Blake's eyebrows practically disappear they raise so high.

"No flippin' way." Yang breathes out. "Are you serious? You have got to be pulling our tails." Penny simple shakes her head.

"I am not pulling your tails! I am really, truly not a real girl." She says. 

Ruby is at her side in an instant, her argument with Weiss now forgotten as she grabs Penny's arm.

"You are too a real girl!" She says, eyes narrowed. Penny's eyes are wide, and then crinkle in confusion.

"But I-" 

"No buts!" Ruby says, putting a finger to Penny's mouth to shush her. "You are still a real girl even if you're made of metal!" Penny blinks at her as Ruby removes her finger away from her mouth.

"Yeah!" Yang says, placing a hand on her arm. "You're gonna get along great with all of us, I'm sure of it, even if you _are_ a robot!"

"Android."

Blake nods in agreement, while Nora, who seems to have escaped, pokes Weiss in the side to elicit a small shriek. 

"Yes, I'm sure you'll fit in just fine with all of the dolts here in Vale." Weiss huffs as she successfully shoos Nora away.

Penny smiles, her hands clasped in front of her.

"I truly appreciate it, each one of you. I had been told that some may not be quick to accept me for what I am, but..." She trails off for a moment. "Well, you are all very kind."

The six of them make their way back to the gate after a few short minutes, and a whole lot of complaining about the temperature. Ruby can't wait to get back to her lodgings, and take the world's longest nap in her own bed. She taps her chin at the thought. Wouldn't a long nap just be normal sleeping? She shrugs to herself. Ah, what does it matter, sleep is sleep.

Just as they get to the gate, they are stopped by a single "Ahem." from the side. Yang groans, sliding a hand down her face. Ruby grins as her mentor- and uncle- makes himself seen from the shadows, stepping into the very middle of the gate.   
"And just where do you think /you're/ going, runt?" Qrow asks accusingly, pointing at Ruby, who just laughs. She races forwards, jumping at him in a hug. He let's out a grunt, but chuckles in return.

"You missed me, didn't you!" Ruby asks with another laugh. Qrow taps his chin for a moment before sighing.

"Y'know what? Maybe I did." Ruby looks up at him in surprise, before her mouth stretches out into a blindingly bright smile. "Hey, kid, don't let this get to your head." He finally says, putting a hand on the top of her head and ruffling her hair, pushing her away. "Come on, let's get you back to the lodgings. And your new little friend there." He leans down, placing a hand on the side of his mouth as if hiding it. "That _is_ a new kid, right?"

Ruby looks baffled at the question, before scrunching her nose. "Yes, Qrow, Penny is new!" Qrow stands up with his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay. There is way too many of you kids to keep track of. This 'old man' as you punks like to call me can't tell the difference between any of you." Ruby just harrumphs, crossing her arms over her chest as she follows behind Qrow as they walk.

Behind her, she can hear Nora pestering Penny for questions that she must have contained until they got inside, which Penny seems to be answering eagerly. Blake is helping Yang harass Weiss, who sounds like she's getting worked up after spending a day locked in the lodgings with the girl.

Vale isn't a massive settlement, when compared to the few other largest towns in the massive forests of Remnant, but it isn't small, either. It has great, massive outer walls, and buildings built with the internal structures of what had lasted hundreds of years of damage. Not only that, but it was practically entirely capable of sustaining it's several hundred people, without outside help. Of course, that doesn't mean it keeps itself isolated. Despite the distance, there are routes linking it to the other towns, many miles away, allowing anyone capable of protecting themselves the safest route away. 

The group walks down the snow covered, ice-slicked dirt road for what felt like hours compared to the pace taken from Penny's cabin. At the time, both Penny and Ruby had walked fairly quickly, eager to make it to the town before the Sun set. Now, however, once the urge to make it home has been sated, Ruby just feels sluggish, and her legs are _really_ starting to hurt. 

Finally, the site of the hunting lodge comes into view. While not visible itself, just on the other side of the building is another, much smaller gate than the one they had gone through. This one is only meant for people to go through, as opposed to someone with a horse, or a wagon. 

Ruby lets out a loud sigh of relief. Qrow chuckles at the sound as they approach the large doors, pulling them open and stepping inside after kicking the wall to rid his boots of snow. The wooden floorboards creak with each and every step from every person now stepping into the building.

"Alright, kid. Go get changed, or something. Then you need to tell me what the hell happened out there." Qrow says, nudging Ruby past him, and towards the staircase.

Ruby walks up the stairs, the steps even creakier than the floors, against all odds. Not that Ruby can be bothered to care now, or any other time, really. She simply takes it upon herself to make it into her team's room, changing into something a bit less dirty, and a bit more comfortable now that she's inside a warm house.

When Ruby returns downstairs, she finds that Qrow has taken to leaning back against the counter in the kitchen by himself, Blake is reading a book on the couch, Yang is next to Blake, throwing popcorn at Weiss, and Nora has disappeared. Penny is sitting on one of the bar stools sat in front of the ancient island counter, and is talking to Qrow.

"Ah, there you are." Qrow says, standing up and away from the counter as Ruby makes herself known. "Alright, sit down, and tell me how the hell you ended up some 13 miles away from the camp."

Ruby sits down, telling him how she simply got separated from her team once the snow hit, found the cabin, broke into said cabin, and met Penny. 

Finally, Qrow nods. "Huh. Okay." He says, rubbing his forehead. "Look, kid, if something like this happens again, just... I don't even know. Stay put or something. You were pretty damn lucky you ran into that cabin. You could've dropped dead or something, and no one would've found you." Ruby looks down at her hands in her lap and nods. "As for you," Qrow starts, and Ruby looks back up to see he is looking pointedly at Penny, "There's plenty of room for you to stay as long as you need. This place is way bigger than it needs to be for as few of us as there are." Penny smiles at him.

"I would greatly appreciate it if I could stay." Penny says, and Qrow nods.

"Alright, that settles that then." Qrow says, clearing his throat before taking a drink out of his flask. "No one kill anyone. No maiming. Don't be idiots."

"Alright, chief." Yang calls out sarcastically. She doesn't even look up at him as she throws a piece of popcorn directly into Weiss' mouth, the previous game of 'pelting popcorn at Weiss until she pops a gasket' long forgotten as the two of them throw their hands up in celebration.

Qrow leaves the room, disappearing up the stairs. Ruby turns towards Penny, who back at her with a slight head tilt.

"He seems quite nice as well." Penny says. Ruby chuckles with a nod.

"Yeah, he's pretty great." Ruby says, before yawning. "I am absolutely _exhausted_. Let's go get you a room." She says, standing to her feet. Penny does just the same, and follows Ruby up the stairs as well.

Fortunately for the both of them, the room just beside team RWBY's had been empty since long before their team had been taking under Qrow's... wing. Ruby opens the door to the room.

"Tah-dah... It's not much, and it's probably pretty dusty because it's been abandoned so long but-"

"Ruby, it's quite alright, I can assure you! Thank you very much, but you should truly get some rest. You appear to be exhausted." Penny says as she slips her large bookbag off of her back. Ruby nods with a tired smile.

"Yeah, I am pretty darn tired. I know you said you don't need to sleep because you're an android and all, but I hope you rest well." Penny nods, keeping the smile on her face as Ruby backs up, and walks the few steps towards her team's door. The door to Penny's room clicks shut just as Ruby opens her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall, so sorry for the long wait! was having laptop troubles, was sort of overwhelmed from school and couldnt be bothered to put in the effort/be patient enough to turn this slow laptop ive got on. now im back! i had also fallen sort of out of interest in rwby for quite a while, up until recently when the next volume began, which so far im enjoying! 
> 
> i do have some bad news however. I possibly, may not be continuing this fic beyond the 6th chapter. i couldve sworn i had written more, but i cant find files for any chapters up until that point, and for now i have fallen out of interest enough to continue writing for a while. the chance still stands that i may pick this up again, however for now it is unlikely. 
> 
> when i first came up with this fic, i was either going to go with penny/ruby, or weiss/ruby, the result of which i chose is obvious seeing as you have probably read the work so far. since then ive realized its kind of pointless it fight with myself over which ship to write for, seeing as i actually like putting all three of them together (: i may be pausing on this fic indefinitely, however i do plan to write a story involving penny, ruby, weiss, and a small town ranch with its own little college (: i do hope that in the meantime yall enjoy what there is of this, and the next 2 chapters that i will be uploading soon, likely tonight!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> id like to apologize for the state that this and the next chapter are in. i am simply copying them and pasting them directly from the file i have them saved, so if there is a word or phrase like /this/, it is meant to be italic. any spelling mistakes, my apologies! i am not finishing this, but if i do change my mind i will be coming back to edit (:

When Ruby finally wakes up, it's easy to tell that it is well into the daytime. The window in her team's room has bright sunlight shining in from much higher than if the sun had just started rising, and her team is nowhere to be seen. Ruby jumps down from the bunk without a second thought, her feet hitting the ground with a heavy thud. From downstairs she can clearly hear several people talking and laughing, though they are all muffled and garbled thanks to the walls in between them.

Ruby puts on something more appropriate for public use than what she had fallen asleep in, and puts on her shoes that have been moved to against the wall beside the door. She steps out of the room, the sounds from the ground floor much louder without the door to stop the noise. Ruby makes her way down the stairs, and is immediately bombarded with several "good mornings" from several people.

"Hey, I wasn't sure if you were ever gonna wake up, Rubes!" Yang shouts, before finishing off her coffee, and placing it heavily on the counter.

"Oy, I told you to stop doing that. We're gonna end up with no mugs if you don't quit it." Qrow scolds from one of the barstools, sipping from his own mug. Yang sticks her tongue out at him. 

Ruby takes a look around, seeing Penny sitting almost primly on the couch. Blake sits beside her with her legs tucked beneath her, and Weiss sits in the same armchair that she had the day before, and almost every other time that she sat in that part of the room.

"Is team JNPR out or something?" Ruby asks, choosing to ignore what her sister had said as she grabs a glass, and opens the fridge. She grins as she grabs one of the bottles of milk that must have been delivered while she was asleep, pouring it into the glass.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure they went out so Nora could get her fill of pancakes." Yang answers, and Ruby rolls her eyes.

"We were already planning on going sometime soon." Ruby says, putting the half-full milk bottle back into the fridge, and taking a huge gulp. Nice and cold, as milk should be. Always. Yang shrugs at her.

"You know how Nora is." Ruby just nods in response, holding the chilly glass to her face before taking another gulp. "You'd think that after spending god knows how long out in a literal blizzard that you'd want a break from the cold." 

In response, Ruby does just as Yang had to Qrow, and sticks her tongue out. Qrow laughs sardonically at Yang as Ruby makes her way over to the sitting area, which was aptly named. The area is made up of a single couch, 4 arm chairs, and a coffee table in the very center. Ruby sets her mug on the table, everyone long-since forgoing coasters seeing as the table has seen some stuff far worse than water damage. 

Blake sighs, and braces herself, knowing full-well what Ruby plans on doing. Ruby grins at her, before throwing herself onto the couch as she had almost every morning spent at the lodge. It creaks at the movement and added weight, and she can hear Weiss' "ugh" from where she sits in her armchair. Ruby giggles, her face pressed into the couch cushion just beside Blake's thigh. Blake puts a hand on the back of her head, and ruffles the hair. Ruby sits up with a pleased look on her face, before sitting on the couch like a normal person should.

"Good morning, Ruby." Blake says into her mug of tea, the liquid visibly steaming directly into her eyes.

"Good morning! Whatcha guys doing?" Ruby says, leaning forward to grab her glass of milk.

"Oh, just getting to know Penny a bit more, and waiting for you to get up. You know." Ruby pitches forward on the couch, and Blake grabs the back of her shirt to keep her from face planting into the table. 

"Thanks!" Ruby says as she grabs the glass, and sits back, Blake snickering in response. She takes a sip. "Did we have any plans for today?" She asks. Weiss shakes her head.

"No, Qrow said we're going to take a few days off to wait out the snow a bit." Weiss pauses. "And to make sure you don't run off and get lost again." Ruby scoffs at her.

"That was hardly my fault, and you know it!" Weiss just shrugs innocently at her. Ruby harrumphs. If she wasn't already leaning back into the couch, she would have flopped back with her arms crossed.

Blake turns to Penny, striking up a conversation about some book that Ruby had never even heard of, but apparently the two of them had both read and enjoyed, several times. Ruby is glad that Penny seems to be getting along with everyone, she is! However, she can't help but wish that she could have some more time to talk to her- alone. Suddenly, an idea pops into her head.

"Hey, Penny! How about I show you around Vale?" Ruby asks abruptly, nearly interrupting a startled Blake. Penny smiles at her and nods.

"I would love for you to do so." Ruby grins back at her in response, and jumps to her feet.

"Awesome!" She says, then races halfway up the stairs. She quickly rushes back down, into the kitchen, and sets her now empty cup on the counter before running all the way up the stairs again. 

By the time that Ruby realizes that she has no idea why she went upstairs, she has already reached her team's room. She shrugs to herself, and opens the door before looking around. What did she forget... She looks down at herself. Oh! She should probably /actually/ get dressed, rather than just wearing some stretchy pants and a t-shirt. Sure, it was a leg up from sleepwear, but it was still no good for an honorable huntress-to-be! 

Ruby quickly throws on some jeans, a t-shirt with graphics so faded from years of use that she's long since forgotten what it once was, and a red pullover hoodie with a black patch of fabric in the back from where it once tore. She checks her shoes to make sure they were actually matching. She refuses to make that mistake again. Finally, she runs downstairs, to see that Yang has disappeared, as well as Qrow. Penny now stands up, looking out the window patiently.

"Hey, you wanna go now?" Ruby asks as she steps off the last step. Penny turns around and nods.

"Ruby." Weiss suddenly says just as Ruby turns around to exit the lodgings.

"Yeeeess, Weiss?" Ruby asks, slowly turning around to face the girl in the armchair.

"Don't get lost this time." She says with a slight, barely noticable smug smile on her face. Ruby huffs.

"Whatever, Weiss!" She whirls around, and walks towards the exit, Penny giggling quietly behind her. 

The two exit the large building, the air outside still just as cold as the unmelted snow on the ground, a path carved out from many pairs of feet as opposed to a shovel. Ruby leads until they reach the dirt road, still slick with ice. Penny finds her place walking just beside Ruby, close enough that at times their sides barely brush for a moment. 

"So, I guess I'll just point out all the places we usually go to! A lot of this area is just... houses and things, though." The entire town is fairly packed, with areas such as the immediate surroundings of the hunting lodge being empty. "The homes are built on really old foundations and stuff, that has lasted hundreds of years. My dad likes to say that that's how you know they're good!" 

"That's really interesting, actually! It's fascinating to know that buildings may last for so long." Ruby nods at Penny's response.

They walk for a few minutes, passing the homes of many people that Ruby had come to know either just from living in Vale for so long, or just from running into them on the streets. They finally come to the first place worth mentioning about 3 minutes away from the lodge.

"Oh! Up there is where we usually do our everyday shopping" Ruby says, pointing to the building that seems to be missing an entire outer wall. The inside is lined with rows and rows of fruits and vegetables. many of the different types now seem to be resting in their usual places, but now with snow gently packed in around them. "It looks like they're taking advantage of the snow to get some extra refrigeration!"

"That is very clever." Penny points out, and Ruby nods as they walk past. No reason to go in if they've got other things to do.

It doesn't take long for the single long strip of dirt path to break away into three new directions. 

"Alright! This way is the diner," Ruby points forward, "that way is sort of towards the center of town, and the market, which usually has cool stuff, but I'm flat broke right now," She points to the right,"and /that/ way doesn't really have anything cool until Spring!" Ruby says pointing to the left. "I'm not sure if there's really anything we can do right now, because Yang is the one who can get us into bars and stuff where they have movies that we don't, but I bet there's a stall at the market that might have electronics and stuff!" Ruby says. Her expression had darkened halfway through her mini-speech, yet had brightened at just the end. Penny smiles, grabbing her elbow with a freezing hand without thinking about it.

"I would love to visit the town center, if you don't mind." Ruby just nods, trying to ignore how the girl hadn't let go of her arm.

"Of course! Let's go!" 

The walks is quiet, but as they near the market a few twists and turns away, the sound of people talking is just about /all/ that they could hear. The heat from people being so close together, and moving so much at the same time was practically radiating off of the area, but Ruby nor Penny could find itself in them to complain.

Penny's grip on Ruby's elbow ceases, and she drops her arm as she looks around. The market is located just at the "center" of Vale. It isn't actually the center, but rather is the the largest public area in all of Vale. A massive clocktower sits towering above, ticking silently throughout the day. Not even when the clock strikes 12, or 1, or 2, or any of the other numbers does it ring. Not for fear of attracting Grimm to the already noisy town. 

Just inside the base of the clocktower Ruby has come to learn that it serves as the office for the town's council. Every important affair occurs in the center, save for the Spring festival.

Ruby wraps her arm around Penny's, gripping her upper arm with little strength, yet no fear of being too rough with the girl literally made of metal. Penny looks at her confusedly for a moment.

"To make sure we don't get separated." The girl nods at the answer to the silent question.

The two step as one into the sea of moving bodies, people brushing past them with little heed for those they bother, yet still avoiding them with practiced care. Everyone has places to be, and no one would get there if people fought every time that they touched.

The two wander the stalls for ages, Ruby occasionally stopping to gawk at pristine weapons, and talk to familiar vendors. By the time they had circled the place, they are disappointed to find that no one had a single piece of technology that Penny could use in her work. Ruby pouts as they separate from the crowd, just as easily as they had entered it.

"I'm sorry that we weren’t able to find anything. Looks like we’ll be on our own…” Ruby trails off, looking down to the ground and releasing Penny’s arm from her grip. Almost the moment she does so, Penny rests her other hand on Ruby’s shoulder.

“Ruby, I assure you it is quite okay. I’m sure we’ll be able to do what we must on our own. Now please, do not apologize.” Ruby looks up to meet her friend's eyes, and a small smile forms on her face.

“All right, okay.” She taps her chin for a moment. “Now, let’s go take a look at the diner! If we get there on time, team JNPR might still be there.” 

“Oh, I actually got to meet them this morning!” Penny says with a smile. “Nora burst into my room while I was running some statistical checks to see if I could figure out what was wrong.” She giggles.

“That’s good! I’m not surprised that Nora did that, though.” Ruby says with a click of her tongue. “Were you able to figure out what’s wrong?” Ruby asks. Penny shakes her head.

“Unfortunately, I still can’t figure it out. It isn’t as if it has just disappeared, though. It’s like it never existed, and there is this gap in my memory where there is just… nothing.” Ruby sighs at the response, and nods.

“Gosh, this… this sucks.” Penny nods in agreement.

“Yes, it truly does ‘suck’” she looks up from the ground. “I would not be opposed to seeing team JNPR again, though?” Penny offers. Ruby lights up.

“To the diner we go!”

By the time that they had reached the diner, the place built with bricks just like most of the town, but painted with a red and white checkerboard pattern like in the movies, team JNPR had clearly left. Given by the piles of plates in one of the booths, their team’s usual, they had left much more than footprints in the snow in their exit. 

Ruby sighs, placing her hands on her hips.

“This sucks! Why is nothing going like it should be!” She asks the sky, knowing full well that that’s just how things go sometimes.

“It will be okay, Ruby.” Penny says, resting her hand on Ruby’s shoulder once again. “I’m still having quite a lot of fun, even if the things you wish to do and see aren’t working out as they should.”

Ruby smiles at her halfheartedly. “I’m glad! I guess I should sort of be apologizing to you, though. You’re the one in some strange new place, missing a bunch of your memories. /You/ should be the one complaining, and here I am!” She says, sticking her tongue out at herself.

Penny shakes her head. “No, I don’t need to complain about any of that! I’m quite happy here, just walking around with you.” She says genuinely.

Ruby looks over at her with wide eyes, before she gives a blinding smile. 

“I’m happy walking around with you too, Penny!”

———————————————————————

/Somewhere else…/

A tall man with stark white hair and a mustache sits at his desk, fingers intertwined and eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

Another man, taller even than the man at the desk, and hair both red and brown, a scar slashed across his left eye. His hands rest palm down on the former’s desk, the two locked in a staredown filled with malice and hatred, each for two different reasons.

The first looks at the other with disgust, both at having his floors, and the air around his dirtied by the other’s presence. The second, disgusted by the fact that he must make a deal with the other. In any other life, he would sooner be thrown into a freezing river before ever making a deal with the head of this house. In this life, however, action and inaction is a choice between life, and death.

“Why have you come here? I can have your head in my very hands if you so much as say a single thing I would not like to hear.”

There is a pause between words, before the second man speaks.

“I have heard that you want your daughter back. That you have lost her to a life unbefitting of someone of her stature.” The first man does not falter at these words. “There is a way that you can get her back, and take down all of Vale with it. You may deny it, but you have enemies there, that even you’ve been unable to take care of yourself.”

The first man stares into the eye of the second for a moment before sniffing in disdain.

“This all may be true. But how am I supposed to know that you are actually capable of actually doing anything? That you are not a fraud, sent here to attempt and send me quivering in fear like a stupid child, or a mangy rat on the street?”

The second man chuckles darkly at the response.

“You don’t need to give me anything. You just need to send people capable of fighting down to Vale. We are to tear the city down, whether or not you take action.” He pauses for a moment. “Without a guiding hand, the beasts of grimm will destroy without discrimination. It would be… unfortunate, if certain... individuals were to be caught in the crossfire of war.”

The first man’s brows stay furrowed, and his eyes stay trained on the man still standing over him without fear. Confidence lingers in the man’s one blue eye as he stares down at the first. He swallows thickly, before nodding once.

“I accept your offer.” He continues staring into the eye. “You are to remain silent about this agreement, or you will come to regret it most painfully.” 

The main looks down at him with satisfaction, resting a hand on the sword that the first had failed to even notice until that moment.

“I assure you, that none taking our side will regret this. You have my word.”

“I have no reason to trust the word of a filthy forest rat.”

“And I have no reason to trust the one with my life in his hands. It seems that there is no one anyone can trust.” He turns to walk around the desk towards the very window he had broken in through. “You shall receive your instructions in due time. It has been a pleasure.”

The man jumps out of the shattered window, leaving no trace of his presence save for the busted glass on the floor, glittering like gold and gemstones.

The white haired man stares out the window, the other man already having disappeared into the snow, despite sticking out like a disgusting blemish on the perfect, freezing surface. Not even a trail of footprints leads behind, and the snow continues to fall.

The man practically roars, throwing a hand out and smacking some object off of his massive desk. It flies, clattering from the wall it hit to the floor violently. He breaths heavily, angrily, and the other man chuckles darkly, and victoriously in the woods as he walks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think it was the writing of the chapter previous to this one that my interest in continuing began to taper. im not particularly proud of this chapter, as it doesnt meet my personal expectations for my own writing, but i hope that you have enjoyed it nonetheless.

**Author's Note:**

> There is a chance the story may end up being longer than 13 chapters. In fact, it's near guaranteed! It'll (LIKELY) actually be 14 or 15 chapters long, and that's including an epilogue if I bother with one. 13 is just for what I have planned all out. Everything's just gotta get fleshed out the rest of the way.  
> LMK if I make any typos or errors in continuity or something, please!


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